Heir to the Sundered Crown (23 page)

Yepert walked slowly, being careful not to make any noise or trip on a root. The sounds of night time creatures made his imagination race. He couldn’t help but wonder what fell beasts were stalking him?

The night was cold and his breath exited his lungs in a plume of steam. He rubbed his body with his arms hoping to keep the cold at bay. It was still summer but an unnaturally cold wind had begun to blow from the north. Now he knew what Luxon had talked about back in Caldaria.

He shut his eyes to fight back tears. He longed for the safety of the city and the days when he and his friend were safe and warm. He dreaded to think what had become of the others. A part of him wanted to go back, but a bigger part told him to run as far away as he could.

He thought back to the night when Kaiden had given him the precious note that felt like a boulder in his pocket. They had been fleeing the assassins and rest had been rare. When they stopped for some sleep Kaiden had approached him.

“I have a special task for you Yepert, one that is of the upmost importance,” the knight had said when the two of them had left the others to gather firewood. Yepert had been eager to prove that he could be trusted. The shame of almost being killed by the banshee had made his cheeks burn red with shame and embarrassment. He’d been eager to rip a page from his notebook and swap it with the note the Knight had been carrying, anything to prove that he could be trusted. What the Knight had said next however had caused him to doubt his courage.

“If anything happens to me, take that note and run. Take it to Sunguard and give it to Archbishop Trentian. Do not let it fall into the wrong hands,” Kaiden has said sternly.

Now he was fulfilling the knight’s demand. Lost and alone in the huge forest he doubted anyone would find him let alone the witch and her assassins. He reached into his cloak and pulled out the note.

“I could destroy it...” he muttered. He placed the note onto the ground and focused. He muttered an incantation, raised his hands and stopped. He tilted his head as he heard voices coming from deeper in the forest. They were drawing closer.

Quickly he scooped up the letter, put into his cloaks pocket and dashed behind a tree.

Two men pushed their way through the undergrowth. One was tall with short cropped hair, the other shorter and broader in build. He too had short hair. Yepert narrowed his eyes. The two men were wearing matching sets of armour. The dim moon cast just enough light to reveal the symbol of a crown emblazoned upon the breast plates.

Legionaires!

“I’m telling you I heard something,” said the taller of the two.

“And I’m telling you your imagining things. There’s enough creepy stuff in this forest already without you imaging stuff,” rebuked the other.

Yepert stepped out from behind the tree he had hidden behind. The soldiers of the legion would help him. Perhaps there were more nearby and they could launch a rescue of his friends.

“Hello,” he said.

The taller legionary spotted him and cried out in surprise.

“By Niveren! You scared me half to death.”

The soldiers approached Yepert their hands instinctively reaching for their swords.

“Who are you? What’s a lad your age doing in this place? Don’t you know how dangerous it is here?”The shorter man said.

The taller man hit his friend lightly in his chest.

“Ease up Kik, the lad looks like he’s gone through the void itself,”

If Yepert had a mirror he could have seen just what a state he looked. His hair was tousled and his face and hands were covered in dirt. His cloak too was torn and ripped from all of the branches he had caught it on.

“My name is Yepert. I need your help...my friends have been captured by a witch, and assassins are hunting me and...and...” Yepert’s words came in a rush. He desperately wanted the two men to help him.

The two soldiers glanced at each other. Kik raised his eyebrows.

“Easy, Yepert. We can take you to safety. Come with us and we will take you to our general. I’m sure he’ll be interested to hear about this witch and...Assassins were it?” Kik said with a hint of scorn in his voice. 

“I don’t have time for that! I have to rescue my friends,” Yepert pleaded as the two legionary’s grabbed him by the arms and pulled him along.

“I reckon this is the thief we were sent to find don’t you Jovi?” Kik said laughing.

“Aye, I think he is. Anything to get out of this god forsaken forest,” Jovi replied.

Yepert looked from one soldier to the other in shock.

“Thief? Who are you calling a thief? Where are you taking me?” Yepert cried. He tried to escape but the soldiers were too strong.

“Stay still you little git,” Jovi snarled.

Yepert shut his eyes and muttered under his breath. With a surprised shout the two guards were sent sprawling to the ground. Yepert rounded on them his hands raised. He didn’t want to hurt anyone but these two were not going to help him.

“Let me go or else!” Yepert shouted, doing his best to sound intimidating.

“He’s got magic! The little shit is a mage! Don’t you know your kind aren’t allowed in this part of the realm,” Kik growled. The two soldiers staggered to their feet and drew their swords. Jovi circled behind Yepert whilst Kik advanced from the front.

“The general’s definitely going to want to know about you boy” Kik said menacingly. “No doubt we’ll get some gold as a reward. Catching a mage...Hmm should get us a nice big bag of Delfins...”

“I’m not your enemy. Please just let me go!” Yepert pleaded, desperation creeping into his voice.

The soldiers laughed cruelly. Suddenly Jovi lunged forward; the big man wrapped his powerful arms around Yepert who screamed. With his arms pinned to his sides he couldn’t cast any spells.

Kik chuckled as he approached the struggling boy. He pulled a pair of manacles from his belt and strapped them to the boy’s wrists. “Well that was easy. I thought your kind would put a better fight than that,” he mocked.

Yepert tried to struggle but Jovi was too strong. His cries echoed into the night.

*

They had walked for most of the night stopping only once when they heard the scuffling sounds of a pack of Pucks moving loudly through the forest. The two soldiers had drawn their swords but they had remained undetected.

Eventually they reached a large clearing with a rune stone standing tall and proud in its centre. Built around the stone was a wooden fort which had been constructed by the legion when they halted for the night.

Yepert’s eyes grew wide as he recognised where he was. He was back on the Balnor road.

The two soldiers roughly shoved him along until they reached the forts gate. A legionary stood atop the gateway with a flaming torch. He barked an order to someone unseen and the gate swung slowly open.

Yepert was pushed through the gate and into the fort. Rows of tents filled the space between the forts wooden walls and the smell of cooking meat and sounds of blacksmith forges range out into the night.

Eventually they reached a large tent with two stern looking legionary’s standing guard outside. The right hand guard frowned as he saw them approach. He raised his spear.

“Halt.”

“C’mon Odrin we’ve been travelling all night,” Kik moaned.

The guard called Odrin scowled before he swung his spear and smacked the taller soldier across the face sending him clattering to the ground.

“That is Captain Odrin to you worm,” the captain growled. He composed himself by tugging his blue tunic straight and adjusting his armour. 

“Now then,’ he went on; ‘did you two catch the man who stole from the stores?”

The captain glared at Yepert who shrank back under his intense gaze.

“This is a boy. The thief who stole those supplies was a man. I know he was a man because he was a legionary, now a deserter. So tell me why have you brought a boy to the general?” Odrin asked. He spoke as though he were addressing a small and rather simple child.

“He’s a mage!” Kik cried as he staggered to his feet. ‘he had this on him” the red faced soldier added passing the captain the note he had taken from Yepert’s cloak pocket.

“He was in the forest, not far from Tentiv. We thought the general would want to know why,” Jovi added. 

Odrin raised his eyebrows in surprise. He regarded Yepert for a moment. A hint of sympathy flashed in his eyes.

“Is that true boy? Are you a mage?” Odrin asked quietly.

Yepert nodded his head in the affirmative. There was no point in lying. Adults almost never believed the words of children.

“Leave us,” Odrin ordered Jovi and Kik. The two men opened their mouths as though they were about to protest but one look from the captain sent them on their way. Yepert wasn’t sorry to see them go. 

The captain’s harsh expression softened as he unlocked the manacles around the boy’s wrists.

“Now then lad, time to meet the general.”

*

Rason looked up from the papers on his desk as the flap to his command tent opened. A brazier stood in the corner giving off the only source of light. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and sat back on his canvas chair. Waging a war was a tiring business.

“What is it Odrin?” Rason asked. The general stood and stretched his aching back, grunting in satisfaction as he felt it click. He glanced at the map hanging by two wooden pegs sewn into the canvas of his tent. The realm of Delfinnia was upon it, regions controlled by his enemies shaded in varying colours.

The legions push east had met little resistance so far but his spies had revealed that the Baron of Balnor was mounting a defence at the Zulus Bridge on the Zulun River. It would be a tough battle. Many of his men would surely die.

“The men we sent after the man who was stealing from the baggage train found this young man deep in the forest. He claims to be a mage,” Odrin explained. The captain nudged Yepert forward and handed the note to his general.

“A mage you say,” Rason said taking a fresh look at the bedraggled youth fidgeting before him. He opened the note and walked over to the brazier to read it.

He froze as he read the contents.

“Leave us captain,” Rason ordered. Odrin hesitated for a moment before throwing his commander a salute and leaving the tent.

Rason waited for a moment, his eyes boring into Yepert.

“Who gave this to you boy?” he demanded. His arm shook with excitement and his eyes were wide. Yepert stepped back. The general was making him feel uneasy.

“A knight of Niveren gave it to me, he was one of my companions. Please sir you must help my friends they’re all in terrible danger! A witch took them!” Yepert pleaded.

Rason glared for a moment before starting to chuckle.

“The witch? Oh my, Cliria has been busy...her little trap worked then...”Rason muttered to himself.

Yepert stepped back in horror.

“You know the witch?”

Rason laughed humourlessly, before lowering his voice conspiratorially.

“Of course, it was she who encouraged me to fight for the crown. She promised me such power that no man could refuse her, and now’ he smiled waving the note, ‘now thanks to you I know where the little bastard prince is hiding. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to know as well.”

The general banged a fist on his desk. The tent’s flap reopened and in walked captain Odrin who stopped and saluted his general.

“Bind this mage in chains and assign a detail to take him to Sunguard, and summon the officers. We have a new destination.”

Odrin hesitated. He looked at his general in disbelief. He glanced at the boy who looked as though he had seen a ghost and who was on the verge of tears.

“Begging your pardon sir, but where is this new destination? The Baron of Balnor’s forces are only a day’s march to the East...”

Rason had his back to the captain and was studying the map of the kingdom intently.

“Eclin captain. We will march to Eclin,” Rason replied his voice sounding distant.

Odrin frowned in confusion. Eclin was two weeks away to the north. Even at a forced march the mountains would take a week to reach barring any ill weather or other incidents.

“May I ask why Eclin sir?”The captain asked in confusion evident in his tone.

Rason turned to face him.

“Because that is where the Heir to the Sundered Crown is hiding.”

***

28.

Eclin

The sound of the drums was unnerving. All through the day and the long cold nights the sound of the drums reverberated off of the surrounding mountains. For over a week the noise had persisted, but only now had they become so loud.

Woven watched from one of the high towers on the city of Eclin’s battlements. Finally the un-dead horde had arrived at the gates. His thick grey cloak hid his face in shadow and from the view of the nervous soldiers and citizens who had gathered to watch their doom form up in the snow.

Rank upon rank of un-dead had poured through the mountain pass, the ruins of the fortress of Ruion standing as a mocking reminder of the ranger’s failure to halt the Lich’s relentless march. Fire still flickered in the distant casting eerie shadows of beasts upon the snow dusted mountainsides.

“They will attack soon?” Briden asked nervously. The younger ranger hopped from one foot to the other to ward off the night’s cold.

“Probably at dawn, the ghouls have yet to come through the pass,” Woven replied. He narrowed his eyes as he watched an archer on the battlements loose an arrow at the horde below. He shook his head. It was a waste of good iron and fletching.

“Surely the baron will order the retreat? We’ve done all we can to slow them down,” Briden asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

Woven snorted derisively. He could understand the man’s fear but he understood Lido more. The Baron would never surrender his city without a fight, even if it was against a seemingly undefeatable foe.

“I wouldn’t count on it. The baron sent riders south months ago to beg for reinforcements and still we stand alone. He’s a prideful man and not one who ever gives up without a fight,” the older ranger growled.